Amplats Mine Clash Cause 1 Serious Injury, Disruptions

A group of Anglo American Platinum Ltd. workers are gathered outside the Khomanani shaft, one of the top global platinum producers, in Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg. Photographer: Stephane De Sakutin/AFP via Getty Images

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Anglo American Platinum Ltd. workers
plan to return to operations owned by the world’s biggest
producer of the metal after failing to report for duty today
following clashes between labor groups at the Siphumelele mine.

The company, known as Amplats, “has received confirmation
that its employees will be returning back to work tomorrow,”
spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole said in an e-mail.

Nine workers were shot with rubber bullets and three
security guards were hurt in the fighting yesterday at the mine
in Rustenburg, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of
Johannesburg. Machetes and other sharp objects were used in the
attacks, according to police. Operations were halted and
employees gathered at a stadium in the area in sympathy with
those who were involved in yesterday’s incident, Sithole said
earlier.

The National Union of Mineworkers, South Africa’s biggest
labor group and an ally of the ruling African National Congress,
is losing support to rivals, including the Association of
Mineworkers and Construction Union. Tensions between the two
organizations contributed to 10 days of violence at Lonmin Plc’s
Marikana mine in August in which 10 people died. Police opened
fire on striking workers at the mine near Rustenburg on Aug. 16,
killing 34 protesters.

No Deaths

While there were no fatalities at the Amplats mine
yesterday, one person was taken to a Johannesburg hospital with
an injury to the head after being hit with a blunt object,
police spokesman Thulani Ngubane said in an interview on SAfm
radio today. The situation at the mine and the stadium where
workers have gathered is calm, he said separately by phone.

Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu today met with
the Chamber of Mines, unions and Amplats management to “canvas
immediate action to be taken by organized labor, business and
the government in dealing with the recurrent violence” in the
platinum industry, the ministry said in an e-mailed statement.

Officials will meet tomorrow to further discuss areas of
cooperation for a “long-term industry solution,” it said.

NUM members didn’t report for work because they are being
intimidated, Mxhasi Sithethi, a regional co-ordinator for the
union in Rustenburg, said by phone today.

“We are contesting that AMCU is the majority union” at
Amplats, he said. “In an environment where there is no voice
for people or rights of association, people are just coerced and
intimidated.”

Pay Talks

Yesterday’s clashes occurred when members of a workers’
committee, a non-unionized group, demanded NUM officials vacate
their offices, questioning their legitimacy to represent
employees, Amplats said. The company said it’s in the process of
validating union membership at the mine.

With industrywide wage talks looming, tensions between
labor groups are intensifying. Lonmin ended a six-week strike at
Marikana last year by agreeing to pay increases for workers of
11 percent to 22 percent.

“It’s not going to be an easy wage negotiation process,”
Ben Davis, a platinum analyst at Liberum Capital Ltd. in London,
said in a phone interview. “The politics and precedents set
from last year are dangerous, where intimidation and violence
proved to be a useful tool for the unions.”

Wage negotiations usually start in April or May and changes
to pay are made in July, Sithethi said.

Strikes in the mining industry last year shut gold and
platinum mines, reducing South Africa’s gross domestic product
by 0.5 percentage point, according to the National Treasury, and
contributed to a drop in the nation’s credit rating.

Police Probes

Police are investigating cases including public violence,
attempted murder and assault at the Amplats mine.

Amplats rose for the first time in four days, adding 0.9
percent to 447 rand by the close in Johannesburg. Anglo American
Plc, which controls Amplats, climbed 0.7 percent to 1,996 pence
at 3:41 p.m. in London. The rand gained 0.1 percent to 8.8826
per dollar after sliding 0.4 percent yesterday.

Amplats said last month it may shut four mine shafts to
curb costs and stem losses spurred by a two-month strike last
year. The plan, which would cut about 7 percent of global
output, was put on hold pending further talks with the
government and unions.

“The talks are going very well,” the NUM’s Sithethi said.
“Amplats has changed their tune. They are open for any possible
solutions.”